CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 3, 3 July 1940, Page 10

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

ST. JAMES THEATRE

I "Come On, George," which is in its second week at the St. James Theatre, is another George Formby success. The story concerns the troubles and cares of a stablehand who in all innocence makes friends with a particularly savage horse. He is encouraged in his delusion that the horse is as quiet as a lamb, but the real trouble starts when someone enlightens him. How he is persuaded to regain confidence and ride the horse in a crosscountry race is a story in itself, with the race itself providing many amusing interludes. George and his banjoukulele are inseparable, and in the course of the picture he sings several new and witty comedy numbers.

MAJESTIC THEATRE

"The Secret of Dr. Kildare" is continuing to attract large audiences at the Majestic Theatre. It has become almost an axiom of dramatic art that sequels are never as good as the original, but in this case we have had three stories about the same people in the same setting and each new one as good as its predecessor. The secret lies, of course, in the fact that these "Dr. Kildare" pictures do not rely so much on plot as on the appeal of the characters that appear in them. Lionel Barrymore as "Dr. Gillespie," a great physician in spite of partial paralysis, has achieved the rare feat of creating a part that swamps the personality of the actor. Lew Ayres, too, has given the screen another engaging personality as "Dr. Kildare," assistant and personal friend of the great Gillespie.

PARAMOUNT THEATRE

Playing the role which he considers I one 'Of the best he has ever filled, I Ronald Colman is ideally cast as Dick Heldar in Rudyard Kipling's great action romance, "The Light That Failed," which is now showing at the Paramount Theatre. Acclaimed as Kipling's best novel, the story deals with the period of the closing years of the last century when England gained control of the Sudan. The battle scenes depicted in the production are thrilling and dramatic, but they are no more gripping than the other sequences, when the scene shifts to London and finally back to the Sudan. The associate feature, "Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love," portrays the hilarious adventures of a travelling salesman and a runaway heiress in a story which blends music with a gay romance.

RIVOLI THEATRE,

Jean Hersholt, beloved film star, now conducts a one-man crusade against the twin evils of disease and bad housing. In "Courageous Dr. Christian," which is showing at the Rivoli Theatre, Hersholt portrays the kindly country doctor who perseveres to bring health and happiness to the poverty-stricken of his community. An important cast includes Dorothy Lovett, Robert Baldwin, Tom Neale, Maude Eburne, Vera Lewis, George Meader. Mysterious espionage activities, treachery in the underground fortifications, jealousy, and the most audacious spy plot yet, make "Double Crime on the Maginot Line," the associate film, a most startling spy drama.

TIVOLI THEATRE.

"Daughters Courageous," the Warner Bros, comedy of domestic life which is showing at the Tivoli Theatre, could be termed a first cousin to the same studio's highly successful "Four Daughters," but it is not a sequel to that picture. While the plot concerns different people from those in "Four Daughters," there is a basic similarity in that the new picture is also about the joys, the sorrows, the laughs, the tears in the lives of an ordinary family. There are the same four daughters in this family and again they are played' by Priscilla, Rosemary, and Lola Lane, and Gale Page. Political intrigue in the Amazon jungle is the basic plot of the Richard Arlen and Andy Devine co-starring vehicle, "Tropic Fury," which is the associate film.

VOGUE THEATRE, BROOKLYN.

"The Adventures of Marco Polo," a rollicking adventurous romance brings Gary Cooper to the Vogue Theatre. In the supporting cast are Basil Rathbone, Ernest True'x, George Barbier, Alan Hale, and Binnie Barnes. In the matter of transforming a great mystery play to the screen—the play in. question being John Willard's famous "The Cat and the Canary"—Paramount has made every effort to make it the greatest comedy-mystery of the year. The film is the associate attraction.

KING GEORGE THEATRE, LOWER

HUTT,

"Bluebeard's Eighth Wife," with Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, David Niven, and Edward Everett Horton, is now showing at the King George Theatre. Also screening is a "March of Time," "Background for War," a startling, authentic story of the Mediterranean.

PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE, WOBURN.

"Rio," showing at the Prince Edward Theatre, is a glorification of romance in the gayest city on earth. It stars Basil Rathbone and Victor McLaglen and brings Sigrid Gurie to the peak of her career. Jackie Cooper co-stars with Freddie Bartholomew in Universal's dramatic film "Two Bright Boys," the associate feature.

PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. Hailed as another Capra triumph, Columbia's screen version of "You Can't Take It With You" is showing at the Palace Theatre. Included in the cast are Jean Arthur, James Stewart, and Lionel Barrymore. The film deals with the lovable Vanderhof family, which believes in doing whatever it wants whenever it wants to. The second feature,' "Call of the Rockies," stars Charles Starett and Iris Meredith.

GRAND THEATRE, PETONE.

A. E. W. Mason's name has recently come into prominence on the screen; on the heels of "Four Feathers" comes "At the Villa Rose," which is showing at the Grand Theatre. It is a murder mystery, but one written by a master of the craft. A warm, tropical romance, counter-pointed by the thrills and suspense of a gigantic man-hunt on land and in the air, is unfolded in "The Marines Fly High," associate film.

STATE THEATRE, PETONE,

Mickey Rooney, who has played everything from Shakespeare down to slapstick comedy, finally got an assignment that worried him. He had to sing in "Babes in Arms," which is showing at the State Theatre. Mickey plays the piano and dances, but he has never sung a note on the screen, and he was scared to death of the outcome.

CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR.

"The Adventures of , Tom Sawyer," a technicolour production, is showing at the Capitol Theatre. Mark Twain's famous characters, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Aunt Polly live again on the screen. Tommy Kelly, Jackie Moran, and May Robson head the cast. The associate feature, "One Hour to Live," stars Charles Bickford and Doris Nolan.

DE LUXE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT

The "Dead End" boys are starred in "Hell's Kitchen," showing at the De Luxe Theatre. Stanley Field., Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Lindsay head the cast. "Oliver Quade," that popular fiction detective identified as "the human encyclopaedia," comes to the screen for the first time in "Death of a Champion," the associate film.

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE

PLAZA THEATRE

STATE THEATRE,

DE LUXE THEATRE

REGENT THEATRE,

ROXY THEATRE,

, ASCOT THEATRE.

TUDOR THEATRE

REX THEATRE

A fine psychological drama with an intense human interest appeal, "Rebecca" continues to draw big houses at the King's Theatre. The picture has character and quality that are distinctive, and the delicate theme has been handled with consummate skill. It tells of the joys and tribulations of a young and unsophisticated second wife who is constantly fighting the shadow of the first wife. Rebecca, whose influence remains something real and a little terrible to the second Mrs. de Winter. The two principals in this adaptation of Daphne dv Maurier's absorbing novel, Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, excel in their roles. The supporting programme is first-class.

Darryl F. Zanuck's production of "Drums Along the Mohawk" is showing at the Plaza Theatre. Filmed in the latest technicolor, with Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda in the starring roles, this 20th Century-Fox picture contains unsurpassed action. The story is based on the best-selling novel by Walter D. Edmonds of the stirring days of adventure and romance when America was young. The action is set in New York's peaceful, beautiful Mohawk Valley, and depicts the colonists under the onslaught of the savage Iroquois. Battle scenes in this film reach a pitch of realism and excitement seldom equalled on the screen. Supports include a New Zealand Government film on wartime economy, which was filmed in Wellington streets a few days ago.

Cut to no familiar pattern, and made up in such a way as to surprise even the most cynical filmgoers, "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk" is the main feature at the State Theatre. The audience knows almost from the outset that Joe Monday is guilty of murder—he admits it in open court —but he absolutely refuses any further information either to the police or to his own lawyer. Never does he give the slightest inkling of his actual identity. Beautiful and enchanting women, a distinguished doctor arid his "assistant, and a man of no fixed habits provide the fast and thrilling action in the Twentieth Century-Fox mystery drama, "Free, Blonde, and 21," the other feature.

Charlie McCarthy, ace of puppets, and his voice arid partner, Edgar Bergen, make a welcome return to the screen in "Charlie McCarthy, Detec- , tive," which is showing at the De Luxe [ Theatre. Charlie and Bergen, plus country-cousin Mortimer Snerd, become involved in the murder of a newspaper magnate. , Quite apart from the antics of the trio, the story has a most interesting plot. It is perhaps the best Bergen-McCarthy picture yet filmed. The associate film, "Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President," is also hilarious entertainment. The stars are Ann Sothern and William Gargan. Another episode of "The Green Hornet" is also showing.

All of the finest elements of English comedy are preserved in the film adaptation of the popular play "French Without Tears," now showing at the Regent Theatre. Indications are that the film will be extremely popular, and it certainly deserves to be. Terrence Rattigan's play, from which the film has remarkably few differences, was seen by every member of the Royal Family, as well as by everyone who could get into the London theatre during the nurse of a long season. The film version loses nothing by its transcription. The huge French comedian Jim Gerald is cast to perfection as the professor and Ray Milland gives what is definitely his best performance to date as the rising young diplomatist and novelist who refuses to be vamped by the play's most designing blonde (Ellen Drew).

NEW PRINCESS THEATRE.

Epic screen entertainment, crystallised in a great story of the sea, the (story of the triumph of steam over sail, is offered at the Princess Theatre where Frank Lloyd's great new production, "Rulers of the Sea," is presented. The distinguished cast .is headed by Douglas Fairbanks, jun., Margaret Lockwood, and the noted Scottish actor, Will Fyffe. The associate feature is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Four - Girls in White," starring Florence Rice, Una Merkel , Ann Rutherford, and Mary Howard.

James Cagney and George Raft are co-starred in "Each Dawn I Die," a stark, cruel, grim, and tremendously exciting picture of life behind prison bars, which is showing at the Roxy Theatre. The spectacle from behind the scenes of the German nation being forged into a war machine on the Hitler anvil, brutally, soullessly, and without regard to God or man, is shown in "Hitler—Beast of Berlin," the associate film.

Lew Ayres and Lana Turner star in "These Glamour Girls," at the Ascot Theatre. It is a bright comedy-drama of a bevy of college beauties crashing into New York society. The accompanying attraction is "Bad Lands," with Robert Barratt and Douglas Walton. It is a vivid drama of courage and action in the West. The supporting programme is excellent.

EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY.

"On the Night of the Fire," which is showing at the Empire Theatre, with Ralph Richardson and Diana Wynyard starred, is from the book by F. L. Greene. The story covers a murder committed at the zenith of a huge fire and deals with the reaction of the murderer after he is discovered and is fleeing from the police. The associate film, "Secret Enemy," is concerned with the espionage activities which were brought to such perfection by both the Allies and Germany during the Great War.

REGAL THEATRE, KARORI,

Edward Small's new romantic film drama, "King of the Turf," which is showing at the Regal Theatre, not only stars Adolphe Menjou but also introduces a young newcomer, Roger Daniel, whose great performance indicates that a new star has been born. Like the same studio's "Public Enemy," and "Black Legion," "Racket Busters," the associate film, starring, Humphrey Bogart, is an absorbing, gripping tale fashioned around a topic taken from the front pages of the American newspapers.

With amazing timeliness, Columbia's • I •U-Boat 29," which is showing at the i I Tudor Theatre, brings to the screen aj | wartime story of the struggle be- * tween German and British agents. Just [ as the English Secret Service is today j manoeuvring to foil the machinations j of the German Gestapo, the film graphically depicts the actions of two loyal agents as they work to prevent! the torpedoing of a whole squadron of,' the Royal Navy. Conrad Veidt, Valeric ; Hobson, and Sebastian Shaw are fea- J tured in this thrilling film.

Bruce Cabot is the star of the Republic picture '"Tenth Avenue Kid," showing at the Rex Theatre. The picture affords Cabot one of the best roles of his career, and he has taken complete advantage of the opportunity. The Cockney comedy talent of Gordon Harker provides hilarious entertainment in the latest Herbert Wilcox production, "No Parking," which is the associate feature.